1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to medical systems, tools, and methods. More particularly, the present invention relates to systems and tools for single port laparoscopic access, typically for access through the umbilicus or incisions.
In recent years, many open surgical procedures performed in the abdominal cavity have been replaced by minimally invasive procedures performed through several very small incisions using an endoscope, referred to as a laparoscope, inserted through one of the incisions. The other incisions are used for introducing surgical tools, and the abdominal cavity is inflated to create a space for performing the surgery. Such procedures are commonly called “laparoscopic”, and can be used for gallbladder removal, hernia repair, hysterectomy, appendectomy, gastric fundoplication, and other procedures. Similar endoscopic, thoracoscopic and other procedures are performed in other body cavities without inflation.
While a great advance over open surgical procedures, which can require an incision of several inches or more through the abdominal wall, such laparoscopic procedures still require incisions through muscle or fascia in several separate sites. Each incision may increase the risk of infection, bleeding trocar site hernia, increased postoperative pain, compromised cosmetic result and other adverse events for the patient.
As an improvement over such laparoscopic procedures, “single port” laparoscopy has been proposed where a single access port is inserted through the umbilicus (the patient's navel). Access solely through the umbilicus is advantageous since it provides a superior cosmetic result. Introducing the laparoscope and all other tools necessary for the surgery through a single port, however, makes performance of the procedures more difficult. In particular, the use of conventional laparoscopic tools, which are typically straight, makes it difficult to approach a single target area in the treated tissue with two or more tools at the same time.
Thus, it would be a benefit to provide improved systems and tools for laparoscopic access through single ports for performing minimally invasive surgical procedures. It would be particularly desirable if the tools and other system components were able to facilitate access to target sites and reduce the likelihood that the tools would interfere with each other during the performance of the procedures. In particular, such tools and systems should further allow the physician to intuitively manipulate the tools, while viewing the procedure on the video display, in a manner similar to performance using more conventional multi-port laparoscopy procedures. At least some of these objectives will be met by the inventions described hereinafter.
2. Description of the Background Art
U.S. Patent Publ. 2007/0299387 describes a system for performing minimally invasive surgery through a single port where multiple cannulas are integrated in a single frame. U.S. Pat. No. 5,395,367 describes a single laparoscopic cannula having several tools passing therethrough. U.S. Pat. No. 6,454,783 describes a single port access system with curved cannulas that receive curved or S-shaped tools. Other patents and publications of interest include U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,297,142; 7,147,650; 7,090,683; 5,624,379; 5,441,042; 5,386,818; 5,380,338; and 4,867,404. A commercially available single port laparoscopic access system manufactured by TransEaterix, Inc., Durham, N.C. 27713, sold under the tradename Spider™, is described in “Instructions for Use—SPIDER Surgical Platform,” copyright 2009.